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INDEPENDENT 12. THE CELLAR BAR. BLACKBURN. Friday 30th June 2006.
Another fine night with Independent doing what it does best; a new, young band made their live debut, an established live favourite to pull in a crowd and in SCAR, a band who last year played a disappointing set but wanted the chance to prove themselves.
All the bands were up against it tonight, the triple whammy of Big Brother, the World Cup and Wimbledon threatened to keep the numbers down hence tonight's bill of bands all of whom are based locally. It wasn't the busiest night but it was far from embarrassing.
First band up making their Independent debut was young Blackburn band TAO. They had every reason to be showing nerves. Not only was it their very first gig but one of their two guitarists was away on holiday. Add to this an overheating power amp which caused the vocal p.a. to constantly cut out. Enough to knock anyone's confidence. You have to hand it to TAO, they coped remarkably well, seemingly unfazed by the chaos kicking off around them. Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave are obvious influences, indeed one of their covers was 'Bullet In The Head'. For a young band under much pressure, they did well. Their musicianship is good and Dan is a fine singer. They obviously put plenty of time and effort into their practicing, all they need now are more gigs to build up their confidence. Definitely one to watch.
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Independent regulars INDIA MILL were up next. I'm running out of superlatives for this band except that theya re consistently excellent, the ever - building hype justified. New song 'Polar Bear' inspired by Alistair's love of all things er....polar bear and sits well with all the other favourites. They finished with possibly their best live song 'My Fury'. If you have a fondness for Pixies inspired quiet / loud rock with beguiling melodies, you'll love this band. Check out their website for downloads or try and get hold of a copy of their new e.p.
And now to SCAR. About 10 months ago they played a really lousy gig at one of the first Independent nights which we reviewed. Lesser bands would have split following the (lack of) reaction they got that night. So it is to their eternal credit that they hid themselves away at Reload studios in Darwen for the ensuing months to rethink their songs and rebuild their reputation.
Well, they started off just fine; good catchy songs (this time not all in E). The vocals still lack a bit of spine and still sound like Morrisey at his most mundane. No worries, it's early days. I was quite enjoying this rebirth until they dropped the bombshell.
'Anybody like the Stereophonics ?'
They can't be serious. It's the opening line to a joke, surely ?
We have never hid our loathing of those weary, whinging, miserable, overrated tossers at the Cheesepress and it seems we are not alone, some people left the room following this announcement. What a shame, they were doing so well. Each to their own and all that guff. Call me a music snob if you like (or worse if you prefer). On second thought, scratch that, call me a cab.
Johnny Asshole.